The disappearance of Heather Elvis: An explainer

The disappearance, the affair, the obsession and the five-year-long fight for justice

It’s been almost five years since 20-year-old Heather Elvis went missing from South Carolina.

The ongoing case has seen the arrests of a man, Sidney Moorer – who had been having an affair with Elvis – and his wife, Tammy.

In 2014 the pair were charged with murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and indecent exposure but the murder charges were dropped two years later. Elvis’ body has never been found.

This week, Tammy Moorer’s trial commenced in South Carolina, where she has been accused of conspiracy to kidnap Elvis, her husband’s lover. Elvis’ family’s mission has been not only to have justice for their daughter, but to clear her name and reputation, which has been smeared by the Moorers and their supporters.

As Tammy Moorer’s trial continues, the story of an affair, obsession and a potential pregnancy unfolds.

'When the whole thing was found out, it blew up like a bomb,' Elvis best friend said. (Facebook)

The affair

Heather Elvis worked in local pub when she initially met 38-year-old Sidney Moorer in 2013. Sidney performed repair work at the venue, which was known for the lively atmosphere and the skimpy outfits worn by the servers.

According to Sidney’s testimony from the 2017 trial, after the pair started talking, Elvis gushed about him to her co-workers. They recalled him dropping by, off the clock, to bring her coffee and bagels.

Sidney claimed the brief affair began in September 2013. But their relationship came to an abrupt end after Tammy learned of the affair.

“When the whole thing was found out, it blew up like a bomb almost,” Elvis’ best friend and roommate Brianna Warrelmann told Crime Watch Dailyin December 2015.

“Tammy was livid, texting Heather, sending Heather pictures of her and Sidney having sex,” Warrelmann said, although added that she never personally saw the images.

Warrelmann alleges that Tammy called Elvis and insisted she end it with her husband. Tammy then monitored a conversation in which Sidney allegedly said: “You were nothing to me, you were just someone who spread your legs.”

According to court records, harassment continued from the then 41-year-old woman, prompting Elvis to send a text message saying, “I think you are a little obsessed with me. I’m nobody you need to worry about.”

Sidney alleges that his wife went to great lengths to keep him away from Elvis, monitoring his phone use and even handcuffing him to the bed at night, according to police records.

'It was like they were walking out on my daughter and I can’t do anything about it,' Elvis' mother said. (AP/AAP)

A potential pregnancy

Prior to her disappearance, Elvis had rapidly gained weight and gone up three bra-sizes in her work uniform.

Her manager, Jessica Cooke, testified that Elvis took a pregnancy test but that it came back as 'error'.

“Eventually, Heather and her friends come to the realisation that she might be pregnant,” Horry County Assistant Solicitor Chris Helms told the court.

Prosecutors claim that Tammy Moorer’s plan to kidnap Elvis started after she found out that her husband’s mistress was concerned she might be pregnant, according to Myrtle Beach Online.

“When this gets out, and becomes common knowledge, the fire and jealousy in Tammy Moorer explodes into rage,” Helms said.

On the night of Elvis’ disappearance, footage shows Sidney purchasing a pregnancy test. He told investigators the test was for his wife despite Elvis having had texted him about gaining weight and friends testifying about her pregnancy concerns.

Tammy told a judge she planned to testify in her own defence. (AP/AAP)

Heather Elvis’ last movements

The night of December 17, 2013, two months after the breakup, Elvis had gone on a date with a man named Stephen Schiraldi.

Warrelmann, who was out of town at the time, recalls talking to her friend about the date.

“It was supposed to be the first official date since her relationship with Sidney had ended,” she told Crime Watch Daily.

Elvis also expressed her excitement about the date to her friend.

The couple had been driving around looking at Christmas lights, with Elvis even sending messages to her father and Warrelmann about learning to drive a manual car.

Elvis’ date reportedly dropped her home about 1am the next morning.

Warrelmann later received a call from an emotional Elvis, who had said Sidney Moorer had called her. Elvis told Warrelmann that Sidney had left his wife, missed her and wanted to see her.

Warrelmann allegedly told her friend: “Don’t ruin it, don’t throw away how far you’ve come in the past or so for him.”

Prosecutors allege that Elvis attempted to call Sidney’s phone and the payphone he had originally contacted her from, with no success. They say when she called Sidney’s phone at 3:17am, she spoke to him for more than four minutes.

Following this call, prosecutors allege, Elvis drove to the Peachtree Boat Landing, where her abandoned car was found the following day.

Heather Elvis’ body has never been found. (Facebook)

Online smearing

When attention started to focus on the Moorers, the couple allegedly took to social media to attack Elvis.

According to prosecutors, the couple portrayed the young woman as an obsessed, unstable homewrecker.

In a Facebook post referenced in court, Tammy Moorer wrote: “Well Sidney cheated on me in the months of Sept/Oct with a psycho whore who has since gone missing.”

“I could care less what he screwed around with, but the fact that this jerk is stalking my family is unacceptable,” she also reportedly posted online.

Elvis’ family say they have had to fight back against the negative perceptions of their daughter and the identity created by the Moorers, defence lawyers and online trolls.

“People were kicking someone who was down,” Elvis’ mother, Debbi, told The Post about the online harassment. “They were talking about someone who was gone.”

The Moorers were charged in 2014 but the murder charges were dropped two years later. (AP/AAP)

Conviction

In February 2014, Tammy and Sidney Moorer were both arrested after authorities executed a search warrant on their home.

The couple were charged with murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and indecent exposure.

Two years later the murder charges were dropped. In 2016, Sidney was tried on a kidnapping charge but was declared a mistrial when the jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.

“It was like they were walking out on my daughter and I can’t do anything about it,” Debbi Elvis told The Post about the hung jury.

The case is still active and a date for the retrial has not been set.

Last year, Sidney Moorer was found guilty of obstructing the police investigation and is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence, according to Myrtle Beach Online.

This week, Tammy Moorer faces trial after being accused of conspiracy to kidnap her husband’s lover, 20-year-old Heather. Tammy told a judge she planned to testify in her own defence, which could occur as early as Friday.